Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Bruno Manser did not die in vain...

Bruno Manser, before he mysteriously vanished in Sarawak, believed to be murdered...

PRESS STATEMENT FROM THE BRUNO MANSER FUND

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,

The Bruno Manser Fund's "Stop Corruption Dams" campaign has achieved a major victory today as mining giant Rio Tinto PLC has announced it will scrap plans for a US$2 billion aluminium smelter project in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Rio Tinto decided to scrap the controversial smelter plans as negotiations with the Taib family-controlled Cahya Mata Sarawak and the Taib-controlled Sarawak Energy Bhd failed to bear results. Jacynthe Cote, chief executive of Rio Tinto Alcan's aluminium division said "agreement on a long term competitive power supply contract couldn't be reached" with the Taib family businesses.

Rio Tinto's announcement is a major blow for the Sarawak state government under Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who consistently used the aluminium smelter to promote the recently completed 2'400 MW Bakun dam, Asia's largest dam outside China. As a result, the Bakun dam will cause a massive power glut in Sarawak whose costs will have to be born by Sarawak consumers, tax payers and Malaysia's pension fund EPF who funded the mega-project with massive loans. Plans to export Bakun's excess power to West Malaysia had to be scrapped for economic reasons.

The accursed Bakun Dam has been plagued with problems since its early inception.

The Bruno Manser Fund welcomes Rio Tinto's decision to abandon its Sarawak smelter plans as a major victory for the international campaign to preserve the natural environment and the livelihoods of Sarawak's indigenous peoples.

Rio Tinto's decision proves that the Taib government's irresponsible economic policies have completely failed. There is no need to build another twelve dams in the state as envisaged by the Taib government. All these corruption-driven dam plans that would only benefit the Taib family's construction companies must come tho a halt now.

Taib Mahmud: insatiable greed personified
This is the kind of development that you have to expect from a kleptocratic potentate who believes in witchcraft instead of sound economic analysis and blatantly abuses his public office in order to rob his people.

The Bruno Manser Fund is calling on the Sarawak government to immediately halt the ongoing construction works for the Murum dam and to shelve all further dam plans in Sarawak. We are also calling on the Malaysian federal government to explain how the Bakun dam should ever become profitable and how the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) loans to Bakun will be secured.

Your BMF team

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Is this the end of the line for wannabe Dick Taters?

Former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, once a leading candidate for the title of "Most Evil Man In America"


Cheney gets heart transplant, in intensive care
March 25, 2012 | The Malaysian Insider

Dick had an enormous heart; too bad it wasn't ticking
right. It was a real problem finding the right organ to
replace his dysfunctional heart. Finally a farmer in Idaho
offered this mutant potato, which perfectly fit a man
of Dick Cheney's stature.
WASHINGTON, March 25 — Former US Vice President Dick Cheney was recovering yesterday after undergoing heart transplant surgery, a once risky procedure whose survival rates have improved over the years.

The 71-year-old Republican, who wielded unprecedented power as vice president during the George W. Bush administration’s war on terrorism, was in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia.

Cheney, who has suffered five heart attacks, the first at age 37, had been on the cardiac transplant list for more than 20 months before he received the heart from an anonymous donor.

“Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift,” the spokeswoman, Kara Ahern, said.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, about 88 per cent survive the first year after heart transplant surgery and 75 per cent survive for five years. The 10-year survival rate is about 56 per cent.

Cheney’s transplant followed a series of procedures in recent years to extend the use of his heart. Cheney had bypass surgery in 1988 and later had two angioplasties. In 2001, he had a defibrillator implanted in his chest.

He had a heart pump implanted in 2010 to compensate for worsening “end-stage” congestive heart failure. He said after the operation he was considering whether to seek a full heart transplant.

Waitlist

During Cheney’s eight years as vice president from 2001 to 2009, he pushed a “go it alone” world view that enraged his critics and dogged him long after he left public life.

Cheney was a strong advocate for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was among the most outspoken of Bush administration officials warning of the danger from Iraq’s suspected stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were found.

In recent years, Cheney has appeared increasingly frail in public.

[Read the rest here.]

So, this is Cheney's idea of "a change of heart"? Dick, you shoulda listened to your mama and become a poet. Now, all you'll get is a million Iraqis dancin' on your grave.... and everyone who died on 9/11 will be waiting to greet you on the other side.